Whether you live in a home with little space to plant a garden or are not physically able or inclined to maintain a garden, you can still surround yourself with fresh fruits or vegetables that you grow yourself. How? By planting in containers.

The many advantages to container gardening include:

Easier maintenance — You have far less weeding and bending over.

Portability — If your plants grow poorly in the back corner, you can move the container to an area that receives more sun.

Versatility — You can rotate containers or mix and match to provide new arrangements. For example, a container with Sugar Daddy Peas would look great with some edible impatiens around the edge. Using that same container, you could plant spring-flowering bulbs in the fall and cover them with pines and holly boughs through winter. Once the bulbs have flowered, you can plant annuals for summer flowering or an edible window box with lettuces, strawberries or herbs.

Creativity — You can plant in stone urns, half barrels, clay pots, ceramic bowls, hanging baskets, grow bags or even gallon milk containers cut in half or whimsical containers like wagons or tool boxes. You can have one container or an assortment. Each container can transform a small space into an attractive yet efficient growing area.

After selecting your container, make sure it has enough holes in the bottom to provide good drainage. Cover the holes with a layer of pebbles, and then fill with a quality potting mix.

In choosing plantings, consider what you like to eat or the type of plants you find eye-catching.

You can start from seeds (buy good seed from a reputable company) or buy starters from your local greenhouse. Seed packets identify whether the seeds are good for containers, what kind of light they need and when to plant.

Your local greenhouse can provide you with information on the particular herb, vegetable or plant you chose and when to plant it outside.

Ideas for containers

For a hanging basket, choose a variety of cherry-sized vining tomatoes which will cascade from the basket. Mix in some striped marigolds to add interest.

Cut-and-come-again salads — Plant a mixture of lettuces and keep cutting the leaves as they sprout. You can plant the lettuces with herbs if you have a larger container.

Always ready garnish-parsley does best in an area where the pot or window box is less inclined to dry out.

Breeders are developing new fruit tree hybrids especially for containers.

The Ballerina Apple Tree, a new type of tree where the fruit forms directly on a single upright stem, is ideal for the container gardener. Plant with spring bulbs and a trailing vine like a lobelia or even sweet potato vine.

Blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are also good container choices.

Care needed

As in a traditional garden, you need to care for your plants and protect them from insect damage, frost and wind.

Maintain proper moisture; sun and heat can quickly turn a bright spot into a desert. Water when the soil surface feels dry to the touch.

Container plants need frequent watering, and you may find yourself watering daily.

Feed your plants to stimulate healthy growth by using good, quality fertilizers.

Thin crowded plants; vegetables that have to compete for moisture and nutrients do not perform well.

Dig or pull any weeds, and harvest constantly. Even if you give the vegetables away, keep picking to stimulate further production.

Finally, and most of all, have fun and be creative; you are limited only by your imagination. Enjoy the satisfaction of seeing your flowers bloom and enjoying the fruits and vegetables of your labor.

Remember the words of distinguished gardener and landscaper Janet Kilburn Phillips: “There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments.”

If you have questions regarding container gardening or any other garden questions, contact the Master Gardener GreenLine at 724-287-4761, Ext. 229.